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Where the ‘PayPal Mafia’ Is Today: Founders, Fortunes and Feuds

Two decades after selling PayPal, its founders remain some of the most powerful and polarizing figures in tech.

latest 0

Observer

Irza Waraich

The Best Books About Time Travel, From Classics to Modern Favorites

The Best Books About Time Travel, From Classics to Modern Favorites

From utopian dreams to dystopian warnings, time travel fiction reflects our hopes and fears for humanity’s future. Courtesy the publishers For...

yesterday 9

Observer

Leah Von Essen

Cohere’s Joelle Pineau On Why A.I. Isn’t a Black Box

Cohere’s Joelle Pineau On Why A.I. Isn’t a Black Box

The former Meta executive traces the opportunities and challenges shaping business-critical A.I. today. Photo by Kimberly Wang, Courtesy of Cohere...

previous day 3

Observer

The Editors

The Getty Center’s “Going Places: Travel in the Middle Ages” Is a Visual Feast of Medieval Movement

The Getty Center’s “Going Places: Travel in the Middle Ages” Is a Visual Feast of Medieval Movement

Simon Bening, Villagers on Their Way to Church from Book of Hours, about 1550. Tempera colors and gold paint. Getty Museum Ms. 50 (93.MS.19), recto...

previous day 20

Observer

Jordan Riefe

MacKenzie Scott Donates $50M to Nonprofit Boosting Native Student Scholarships

MacKenzie Scott Donates $50M to Nonprofit Boosting Native Student Scholarships

Angelique Albert has headed the Native Forward Scholars Fund since 2017. Courtesy Native Forward Scholars Fund When Angelique Albert, CEO of the...

previous day 3

Observer

Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly

Christie’s Secures Another Major Consignment in Max Berry’s Encyclopedic Art Collection

Christie’s Secures Another Major Consignment in Max Berry’s Encyclopedic Art Collection

Alexander Calder, Untitled, circa 1938. Wood, rod, string and paint; 21 × 53 × 13 in. (53.3 × 134.6 × 33 cm.). Estimate: $1.5-2 million. Courtesy...

previous day 4

Observer

Elisa Carollo

Shara Hughes’s Luminous Landscapes Open Portals into Life, Death and the Sublime

Shara Hughes’s Luminous Landscapes Open Portals into Life, Death and the Sublime

Shara Hughes’s “Weather Report” is at David Kordansky Gallery in New York through October 18. Photo: On White Wall Studio, courtesy of David...

previous day 3

Observer

Elisa Carollo

12 Flannel Shirts for Men That Make Fall Dressing Easy

12 Flannel Shirts for Men That Make Fall Dressing Easy

Flannel season creeps up on you. One morning, the light hits different, softer somehow, and that breeze makes your T-shirt feel like a bad...

previous day 1

Observer

Paul Jebara

The Steaks Are High as Cote Las Vegas Turns Up the Volume

The Steaks Are High as Cote Las Vegas Turns Up the Volume

Cote Vegas is a homecoming of sorts for Simon Kim. Courtesy Michael Kleinberg As Simon Kim puts the finishing touches on the new Cote that he’s...

previous day 5

Observer

Andy Wang

Could Almaty’s Contemporary Art Museum Mark a New Era for Kazakhstan?

Could Almaty’s Contemporary Art Museum Mark a New Era for Kazakhstan?

The opening of the Almaty Museum of Arts signals a turning point for Kazakhstan’s cultural ambitions. Photo: Alexey Poptsov Like dervishes, dancers...

previous day 1

Observer

Naima Morelli

The $300 Billion A.I. Infrastructure Crisis Hiding in Plain Sight

The $300 Billion A.I. Infrastructure Crisis Hiding in Plain Sight

The A.I. boom depends on an infrastructure foundation that’s cracking under pressure. Observer Labs The race to scale artificial intelligence has...

previous day 3

Observer

Indradeep Ghosh

48 Hours of Art in Aruba: Murals, Masterpieces and Murano Glass But No Museum… Yet

48 Hours of Art in Aruba: Murals, Masterpieces and Murano Glass But No Museum… Yet

Robert Solognier’s Greetings from Aruba mural attracts plenty of picture-takers. Photo: Christa Terry for Observer Queen Beatrix International...

thursday 2

Observer

Christa Terry

How Will the Government Shutdown Impact the Fed’s Next Rate-Cut Decision?

How Will the Government Shutdown Impact the Fed’s Next Rate-Cut Decision?

Chaired by Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve is expected to make its next rate-cutting decision later this month. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty...

thursday 3

Observer

Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly

EV Credit Rush Gave Tesla a Much-Needed Boost—But Challenges Loom

EV Credit Rush Gave Tesla a Much-Needed Boost—But Challenges Loom

The Elon Musk-helmed company saw its delivery numbers soar after a shaky few quarters. Photo by Katherine KY Cheng/Getty Images The end of U.S....

thursday 1

Observer

Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly

In This Cryptic Interview, Lee Bul Illuminates Her ‘Grand Narrative’ and Speaks to Humanity’s Future

In This Cryptic Interview, Lee Bul Illuminates Her ‘Grand Narrative’ and Speaks to Humanity’s Future

“Lee Bul: From 1998 to Now” is at Leeum Museum, Seoul, through January 4, 2026. Photo: Jeon Byung-cheol. Courtesy of Leeum Museum of Art From her...

thursday 1

Observer

Elisa Carollo

Sam Altman’s OpenAI Is Officially the World’s Most Valuable Startup at $500B

Sam Altman’s OpenAI Is Officially the World’s Most Valuable Startup at $500B

A secondary share sale propelled OpenAI’s valuation, setting a new record for private companies. The Washington Post via Getty Images OpenAI has...

thursday 4

Observer

Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly

One Fine Show: ‘Spirit & Splendor – El Greco, Velázquez, and the Hispanic Baroque’ at Blanton Museum of Art

One Fine Show: ‘Spirit & Splendor – El Greco, Velázquez, and the Hispanic Baroque’ at Blanton Museum of Art

El Greco, Pietà (detail), 1574-1576. Oil on canvas. Courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, New York Welcome to  One Fine Show , where...

thursday 2

Observer

Dan Duray

Elizabeth Marvel On Navigating a Dystopian Future in Tim Blake Nelson’s ‘And Then There Were No More’

Elizabeth Marvel On Navigating a Dystopian Future in Tim Blake Nelson’s ‘And Then There Were No More’

Elizabeth Marvel and Elizabeth Yeoman. Photo: Bronwen Sharp Tim Blake Nelson forecasts a grim future in his play, And Then We Were No More, which...

thursday 2

Observer

Harry Haun

8 Space Missions to Watch in October: Starship, Amazon Kuiper, Blue Origin’s Moon Lander

8 Space Missions to Watch in October: Starship, Amazon Kuiper, Blue Origin’s Moon Lander

October brings big space launches, from SpaceX Starship and Amazon’s Kuiper satellites to Blue Origin’s lunar lander and Mars probes. VCG via Getty...

thursday 2

Observer

Colette Holcomb

Jeremy McCarter’s Audiodrama Puts Us Inside Hamlet’s Head

Jeremy McCarter’s Audiodrama Puts Us Inside Hamlet’s Head

McCarter’s audio adaptation of Hamlet embraces audio experimentation to renew one of theater’s most familiar texts. Courtesy Make-Believe...

01.10.2025 10

Observer

Alex Ullman

Jeff Bezos-Backed Startup Receives $300M Seed Round to Build an A.I. Scientist

Jeff Bezos-Backed Startup Receives $300M Seed Round to Build an A.I. Scientist

Periodic Labs will start off in the physical sciences. Grigorii Shcheglov for Unsplash It is well funded, backed by Jeff Bezos and Eric Schmidt,...

01.10.2025 4

Observer

Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly

Ludovic Nkoth Probes What It Means to Be Part of History at MASSIMODECARLO

Ludovic Nkoth Probes What It Means to Be Part of History at MASSIMODECARLO

Ludovic Nkoth’s “Physical Proof” at MASSIMODECARLO in Milan. Photo by: Roberto Marossi Courtesy: MASSIMODECARLO Ludovic Nkoth was born in Cameroon,...

01.10.2025 1

Observer

Elisa Carollo

Hamburger Bahnhof’s Sam Bardaouil On Co-Leading a Museum in Flux

Hamburger Bahnhof’s Sam Bardaouil On Co-Leading a Museum in Flux

Klára Hosnedlová’s 2025 CHANEL Commission “embrace.” © Courtesy of the artist, Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, White Cube / Nationalgalerie – Staatliche...

01.10.2025 2

Observer

Elisa Carollo

Chef Mark Greenaway Showcases Scotland’s Bounty Without Conforming to Clichés

Chef Mark Greenaway Showcases Scotland’s Bounty Without Conforming to Clichés

Chef Mark Greenaway. Courtesy L. Piljar Mark Greenaway got his first kitchen job when he was 15 years old. He had thumbed through the local...

01.10.2025 1

Observer

Emily Zemler

Where to Experience the Best of Spooky Season in California

Where to Experience the Best of Spooky Season in California

Spooky season is a time to celebrate the more bewitching and mysterious side of life. Whether you’re a true believer in ghosts and spirits or...

01.10.2025 1

Observer

Allie Lebos

The 36th Bienal de São Paulo Foregrounds the Necessity of Mutual Obligation

The 36th Bienal de São Paulo Foregrounds the Necessity of Mutual Obligation

Moffat Takadiwa, Portals to Submerged Worlds, 2025. © Levi Fanan, courtesy Fundação Bienal de São Paulo In a world marked by financial crises,...

01.10.2025 1

Observer

Mercedes Ezquiaga

Disney’s Once-Unstoppable Franchises Are Showing Signs of Fatigue

Disney’s Once-Unstoppable Franchises Are Showing Signs of Fatigue

The Mandalorian & Grogu at Celebration Stage during Star Wars Celebration Japan Day 1 on April 18, 2025, in Chiba, Japan. Christopher Jue/Getty...

30.09.2025 10

Observer

Brandon Katz

A.I. Is Changing What Venture Capitalists Invest In and How They Invest

A.I. Is Changing What Venture Capitalists Invest In and How They Invest

Despite cooling markets, A.I. remains the engine powering VC’s biggest risks. Unsplash With A.I. leaders like Sam Altman warning of a potential...

30.09.2025 10

Observer

Rachel Curry